RafaLint: May 9th

Much like today, Rafa’s up 3rd on the main court Thursday with his match against Verdasco scheduled to start “not before” 3:15 PM local time.

Rafa asked if he could play wearing grass shoes today and was denied due to an ATP rule. I’ve seen people get upset about this as if the ATP just made the rule up to thwart Rafa, but it’s a long-standing rule that was put in place to protect the clay from the damage shoes with nubby bottoms (like for grass) could cause. Per Darren Cahill, the rule is about 10 years old. So, back down! It’s business as usual.

Articles:

• Racquet Reaction: Nadal d. Davydenko – by Hannah Wilks (tennis.com)
• Nadal Untroubled In Opener – from the ATP.
• Madrid Masters – Nadal crushes Davydenko – via Eurosport
• Nadal uses new tactic to win in Madrid – via FOXSports
• Novak Djokovic takes up skating at the Madrid ice rink – Cheryl Murray slams the Madrid tournament’s court conditions
• The first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem: La organización reconoce un «problema» con la arcilla azul (mangle)

Videos:

• Teaser video for an upcoming interview for Tennis Magazine (French)
• Keys to Spanish Success

Photos:

• Some presser photos – I love the photos on this blog. They also have some match photos for you to enjoy.

Rafa does social media:

• A happy Rafa stands on very blue carpet after his match. Nice sock tan line.

Random:

• Blue Notes – just because I love Tignor (and find his thoughts on Nole in the last para to be interesting).

9 May 2012 | by miri | 3 Comments